I'm from Colorado. I moved to Minnesota to go to college. I can't even tell you the number of people who said something along the lines of "Oh, I'm sorry" when I told them. Don't be sorry! Much as I miss Colorado sometimes (IIRC, I'm from where LadyPekoe lives now), Minnesota is a beautiful state with tons of things to do and very friendly people. My aunt and uncle live in Boston, and they told me a friend of theirs said something like "A college in Minnesota? I don't think there's any good colleges west of Pennsylvania until you get to California!". Gee, thanks? You just eliminated two thirds of the country!

More recently, while I was on the phone, the person I was speaking with asked me where I was. I said, "I'm in Minnesota", and the answer was "UGH!" and dead silence afterwards. Out of curiosity, I looked up where that person was calling from -- Columbus, Ohio.

I'm from Colorado. I moved to Minnesota to go to college. I can't even tell you the number of people who said something along the lines of "Oh, I'm sorry" when I told them. Don't be sorry! Much as I miss Colorado sometimes (IIRC, I'm from where LadyPekoe lives now), Minnesota is a beautiful state with tons of things to do and very friendly people. My aunt and uncle live in Boston, and they told me a friend of theirs said something like "A college in Minnesota? I don't think there's any good colleges west of Pennsylvania until you get to California!". Gee, thanks? You just eliminated two thirds of the country!

More recently, while I was on the phone, the person I was speaking with asked me where I was. I said, "I'm in Minnesota", and the answer was "UGH!" and dead silence afterwards. Out of curiosity, I looked up where that person was calling from -- Columbus, Ohio.

That's an extremely bizarre thing to say! The Midwest is absolutely stuffed with good colleges and universities. There may not be Ivies there, but a college doesn't have to be Harvard to be good! Silly people.

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I'm from Colorado. I moved to Minnesota to go to college. I can't even tell you the number of people who said something along the lines of "Oh, I'm sorry" when I told them. Don't be sorry! Much as I miss Colorado sometimes (IIRC, I'm from where LadyPekoe lives now), Minnesota is a beautiful state with tons of things to do and very friendly people. My aunt and uncle live in Boston, and they told me a friend of theirs said something like "A college in Minnesota? I don't think there's any good colleges west of Pennsylvania until you get to California!". Gee, thanks? You just eliminated two thirds of the country!

More recently, while I was on the phone, the person I was speaking with asked me where I was. I said, "I'm in Minnesota", and the answer was "UGH!" and dead silence afterwards. Out of curiosity, I looked up where that person was calling from -- Columbus, Ohio.

That's an extremely bizarre thing to say! The Midwest is absolutely stuffed with good colleges and universities. There may not be Ivies there, but a college doesn't have to be Harvard to be good! Silly people.

I agree! I don't know colleges in MN, but I imagine they are good. And here in WI, we have several good colleges.

That's an extremely bizarre thing to say! The Midwest is absolutely stuffed with good colleges and universities. There may not be Ivies there, but a college doesn't have to be Harvard to be good! Silly people.

I'm from Colorado. I moved to Minnesota to go to college. I can't even tell you the number of people who said something along the lines of "Oh, I'm sorry" when I told them. Don't be sorry! Much as I miss Colorado sometimes (IIRC, I'm from where LadyPekoe lives now), Minnesota is a beautiful state with tons of things to do and very friendly people. My aunt and uncle live in Boston, and they told me a friend of theirs said something like "A college in Minnesota? I don't think there's any good colleges west of Pennsylvania until you get to California!". Gee, thanks? You just eliminated two thirds of the country!

More recently, while I was on the phone, the person I was speaking with asked me where I was. I said, "I'm in Minnesota", and the answer was "UGH!" and dead silence afterwards. Out of curiosity, I looked up where that person was calling from -- Columbus, Ohio.

That's an extremely bizarre thing to say! The Midwest is absolutely stuffed with good colleges and universities. There may not be Ivies there, but a college doesn't have to be Harvard to be good! Silly people.

That kind of person doesn't think anyone with a brain lives there, or anything interesting or important ever happens in the Midwest. They view it as basically lots of hick farmers who never do anything but get drunk on the weekends.

That's an extremely bizarre thing to say! The Midwest is absolutely stuffed with good colleges and universities. There may not be Ivies there, but a college doesn't have to be Harvard to be good! Silly people.

I think for the most part (and my apologies to anyone who did graduate from an Ivy League school) that those universities get more hype than they really deserve. To me, attending an Ivy League university for the name on a diploma is no different than buying a pair of DKNY jeans at full price. You could get the same style and quality jeans somewhere else for at least half the price you're paying for the DKNY label.

I'm not saying they're not good schools, I'm sure they are! But I seriously think there are other wonderful universities that provide the same quality of education as an Ivy League school, and probably cost a good deal less, too. Seeing "YALE" on a diploma doesn't impress me any more than "University of Maryland" or "University of Iowa" (GO HAWKS!)

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That's an extremely bizarre thing to say! The Midwest is absolutely stuffed with good colleges and universities. There may not be Ivies there, but a college doesn't have to be Harvard to be good! Silly people.

I think for the most part (and my apologies to anyone who did graduate from an Ivy League school) that those universities get more hype than they really deserve. To me, attending an Ivy League university for the name on a diploma is no different than buying a pair of DKNY jeans at full price. You could get the same style and quality jeans somewhere else for at least half the price you're paying for the DKNY label.

I'm not saying they're not good schools, I'm sure they are! But I seriously think there are other wonderful universities that provide the same quality of education as an Ivy League school, and probably cost a good deal less, too. Seeing "YALE" on a diploma doesn't impress me any more than "University of Maryland" or "University of Iowa" (GO HAWKS!)

My mother has a friend whose daughter goes to an Ivy League university, and according to Mom this friend is so utterly enamored of this fact that she inserts it into every possible conversation. She'll make sideways disparaging remarks about other schools because they're not Ivies and therefore cannot possibly give their students as good an education as her daughter's school! She's completely unpretentious in every other area of life, but something about "My kid goes to an Ivy League University!" totally sends her over the edge.

Interesting book on how wealth, fame and status can contribute to college admissions: Price of Admission, by Daniel Golden. A very good read.

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I have nothing against Iowa - have never been there, but my husband has family from there so I will undoubtedly end up out there someday, and I am interested to see what it's like.

I will just say honestly that both he and his cousin (his cousin actually grew up in Iowa, my husband did not; he visits fairly often but grew up in Canada and the Northeast US) do kind of poke fun at their home state. They do it in that way that only natives are allowed to do; just as I make fun of New York but nobody who isn't from New York is going to get a free pass to do it, unless they've visited and we can commiserate.

May I humbly submit a funny story though? Husband's cousin, before husband and I were anything more than friends, moved to our area and we all hung out often. I was driving with Cousin one day, around Halloween. We passed a scarecrow and he was all "What is that doing there? There is NO REASON for a scarecrow to be in that person's back yard? WHat the he**?"

Me: "Dude, calm down. It's just a Halloween decoration."

Cousin: "People use scarecrows as Halloween decorations?! Why??"

Me: "I have no idea, maybe because they're scary and autumn-y?"

Cousin: "But scarecrows are used to SCARE CROWS, that's why they are called SCARECROWS."

Me: "People still use scarecrows to scare crows?"

Cousin: "Yeah...otherwise the crows eat the corn. Duh."

Me: "So basically in Iowa, they never use scarecrows as Halloween decoration?"

Cousin: "No. Never. That'd just be weird."

We were laughing so hard that he could barely drive, so we had to stop the car. Talk about culture shock!

LOL!!!!!!!!! Oh that's funny!! I wonder if that's all over Iowa or just in their region?

When I was staying with bff, we watched "Music Man" and she said she liked it for the way Meredith Wilson was lovingly poking fun at his fellow Iowans and just the way they talk and go about life. And she admits to having some Iowa stubborness and the Iowa kind of special chip on the shoulder attitude they speak of in "Iowa Stubborn."

I always like, in the 62 movie when Prof. Harold Hill comes into River City and asks a guy "Mighty fine animal you got there" and the guy replies "For a horse!"

Okay now I need to watch the movie!

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Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Be cheerful, strive to be happy. -Desiderata

That's an extremely bizarre thing to say! The Midwest is absolutely stuffed with good colleges and universities. There may not be Ivies there, but a college doesn't have to be Harvard to be good! Silly people.

I think for the most part (and my apologies to anyone who did graduate from an Ivy League school) that those universities get more hype than they really deserve. To me, attending an Ivy League university for the name on a diploma is no different than buying a pair of DKNY jeans at full price. You could get the same style and quality jeans somewhere else for at least half the price you're paying for the DKNY label.

I'm not saying they're not good schools, I'm sure they are! But I seriously think there are other wonderful universities that provide the same quality of education as an Ivy League school, and probably cost a good deal less, too. Seeing "YALE" on a diploma doesn't impress me any more than "University of Maryland" or "University of Iowa" (GO HAWKS!)

Plus Michigan has the University of Michigan, which is nationally recognized as a good school. People come from everywhere to go there (even different countries, and not just Windsor because the commute isn't that bad). U of M is, like, renowned, I thought. Prestigious. Whatever. (I didn't go there, so I have no real loyalty to it, it just seems odd that it was overlooked). There are other really good midwestern schools too. Someone who says something like that is quite frankly ignorant.

Thank you. I'm not living there now, but I'll always be a Michigander at heart. I don't know how you can skip from coast to coast and dismiss everything in between. My DH wants to move up to Ann Arbor, specifically for UM and the city itself. We love it there.

As a sidenote though, (don't tell my DH ) if AA fell through, I wouldn't mind living in Duluth. We went there to visit some friends and I didn't want to leave. I'd even trade in my car for a 4wd if necessary. It was amazing!